tihvavy  of t:ht  t^heolojical  ^mimxy 

PRINCETON   .  NEW  JERSEY 


PRESENTED  BY 

The  Estate  of 
Samuel  Henry  Gapp 


j 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2014 


https://archive.org/details/financialhistoryOOdesc 


The  Financial  History 

OF  THE 


AND  OF  ITS 

SUSTENTATION  FUND. 

BY 

EDMUND  DE  SCHWEINITZ,  S.T.D. 


The  Financial  History 


AXP  OF  ITS 


SUSTENTATION  FUND. 


EDMUND  DE  SCHWEINITZ.  S.T.D. 

Bishop  of  the  I'nita?  Fratnim. 


BETHLEHEM  : 

MORAVIAN   PI  BI.lrATION  OFFICE. 

1S77. 


PREFATORY  NOTE. 


Tlio  iollowiiig  jiapor  was  prepared  for  the  Conferences  of  the  First  and 
Second  Districts  of  the  American  Province  of  the  Moravian  Church.  It  was 
comn\iinicatcd  to  the  hitter  body  at  York,  Pa.,  on  the  2-l:th  of  May,  and  to 
the  former,  at  New  Dorp,  Staten  Ishvnd,  on  the  30th  of  the  same  moutli. 
By  a  vote  of  the  York  Conference  it  was  requested  for  publication  and 
private  distribution,  t  wo  friends  assuming  the  cost ;  and  by  a  vote  of  the  Staten 
IsUmd  Conference,  a  committee  was  appointed  to  secure  an  additional  num- 
ber of  copies,  the  Trustees  of  the  Bethlehem  Church  assuming  the  cost.  At 
the  suggestion  of  a  I'riend,  biographical  foot-notes  have  been  added. 

Rktiii.kiikm,  Pa.,  June  A.  1877. 


THE 

FINANCIAT.  nrSTORY  OF  THE  PROVINCE 
AXD  ITS  SUSTENTATION  FUND. 


INTRODUCTION. 

The  financial  history  of  our  ecclesiastical  Province  and  of  its  Sus- 
tentation  Fund  is  so  complicated  and  therefore  difficult  a  subject  that 
I  would  not  have  ventured  to  take  it  up,  if  I  were  not  convinced  of  its 
importance,  and  if  I  did  not  believe  tliat  it  will  prove  to  be  of  special 
interest  at  this  present  time.  It  is  inijiortant,  because  we  must  under- 
stand the  past,  if  we  would  realize  the  necessities  of  the  present,  and 
our  duty  in  view  of  them.  It  is  interesting,  because  nothing  shows 
more  clearly,  on  the  one  hand,  the  faith  which  our  fathers  had  in  God's 
answers  to  prayer,  and  in  the  aid  which  He  grants  those  who  commit 
into  His  keeping,  with  the  same  implicit  trust,  both  their  spiritual  con- 
cerns and  their  temporal  affairs,  and,  on  the  other,  the  singular  and 
mutual  confidence  which  prevailed,  that  no  private  ends,  i)ut  only  the 
good  of  the  Church  and  the  glory  of  the  Lord,  would  be  furthered  by 
the  men  who  administered  its  funds. 

The  sources  upon  which  this  paper  is  based  are  the  following:  John 
Plitt's  MS.  History  of  the  Eenetved  Church ;  MS.  Notes  of  a  course  of 
lectures  on  Brethren's  History,  by  the  late  Bishop  Stengclrd  of  the  Ger- 
man Province;  Bishop  Croeger's  Geschichte  dcr  Erneuerten  B.  K., 
3  vols.,  Gnadau,  1852-1854;  a  number  of  original  i'7na?tcm/  Papers 
in  the  Bethlehem  Archives;  and,  in  particular,  a  voluminous  MS.  Trea- 
tise on  the  American  Property  of  the  U.  F.,  and  its  various  Proprietors, 
by  the  late  Lewis  David  de  Schtveinitz. 

In  order  to  a  proper  insight  into  our  provincial  finances,  it  will  be 
necessary,  in  the  first  place,  to  give  an  account  of  those  of  the  Unity  at 
large. 


4 


THE  FINANCES  OF  THE  UNITAS  FRATRUM. 

They  nuist  be  tnicod  back  to  the  private  property  of*  Count  Zinzcn- 
ilori"  and  his  wife.'  The  Brethren  who  fled  from  Moravia  and  renewed 
the  C'luireh  at  Herrnhut.  in  Saxony,  were,  without  exception,  poor, 
altliough  many  of  them  had  been  rich  in  their  own  country.  But  they 
left  all  for  Christ's  sake.  Hence  it  was  impossible  for  them  to  originate 
church-funds. 

Now  when  the  first  immigrants  arrived,  Zinzendorf,  as  is  well 
known,  took  little  interest  in  theiiN  aflairs,  which  he  left  to  his  steward. 
He  did  not  think  of  renewing  the  Brethren's  Church.  His  plans  were 
of  an  entirely  ditt'crcnt  cliararter.  As  soon,  however,  as  he  began  to 
realize,  to  use  liis  own  words,  that  Herrnhut  was  the  parish  to  which  he 
had  been  fore-ordained  from  all  eternity — "Seine  von  Ewigkeit  her  be- 
stinnnte  Parochie" — and  as  soon  as  he  met  with  the  Rutio  Discipliiue  of 
Amos  Comenius  and  was  led  both  by  the  lamentations  and  the  hopes 
of  this  -work  to  believe  that  God  had,  perhaps,  called  him  to  be  an  in- 
strument in  bringing  about  the  resuscitation  of  the  ancient  Unitas 
Fratrnm,  he  determined  to  make  every  sacrifice  for  the  Moravian 
refugees  which  their  cause  might  demand.  He  says  himself  {Bu- 
dinxjische  Samlung  I.  p.  G4()  and  (Ul  ):  "  I  could  not  peruse  the  lamenta- 
tions of  old  Comenius,  addn  ss(  il  to  the  Anglican  Church — lamentations 
called  foi'th  by  tlie  idea  that  tiie  Church  of  the  Brethren  was  come  to 
an  end,  and  tliat  he  was  locking  its  door — I  could  not  read  his  mourn- 
ful prayer  a  second  time,  '  Turn  thou  us  unto  Thee,  O  Lord,  and  we 
shall  be  turned,  renew  our  days  as  of  old'  (Lament.  5,  21), — without 
adoi)ting  the  resolution:  I  will,  as  far  as  I  can,  help  to  bring  about  this 
end.  And  though  I  have  to  sacrifice  my  earthly  possessions,  my 
honors,  and  my  life,  as  long  as  I  live,  and,  as  far  as  I  will  be  able  to 
provide,  even  after  my  death,  for  such  a  consummation,  this  little  com- 
pany of  the  Lord's  disciples  shall  be  preserved  for  Him  until  He 
comes !" 

Accordingly  he  made  no  diflerence  between  the  claims  of  his  own 

'  Nicholas  Lewis  Count  of  Zinzendorf  and  Pottendorf,  born  at  Dresden,  ^^ay 
20,  1700,  died  at  Herrnhut,  May  9,  17C0,  was  tlie  son  of  George  Lewis  Count  of 
Zinzendorf,  a  cabinet-minister  at  the  Saxon  court.  He  was  educated  for  the  ser- 
vice of  the  state,  and  tilled  a  government  office  for  some  years.  In  1727  he  re- 
signed, and  devolccl  himself  to  tlu'  c;uist"  of  the  Moravian  Brethren;  in  17.S7  he 
was  coiisecratcil  :i  !'.isliii|>  ul'  (lii.  ir  (.'hiin  h,  :il  ihu  lieuil  of  whieti  he  stood  until  his 
deatli.    He  i)ore  the  title  nf  .1  ,1  (Ji/iininiis  Frdtrum.    His  wife,  whom  he 

married  on  the  7lli  of  September,  1722,  was  Erdmuth  Dorotliea  (Jountess  of  Keuss- 
ICbersdorl,  horn  at  Ebersdorf,  November  7,  1700,  daughter  of  Count  Henry  X 
Keuss,  and  sister  of  Count  Henry  XXIX  Reuss,  both  reigning  Counts. 


5 


taniily  and  the  wants  of  the  Church;  but  provided  lor  both  Iroiu  his 
l)rivate  property,  often  giving  preference  to  the  latter.  It  was  a  noble 
thing  to  do,  eminently  characteristic  of  tiie  man.  At  the  same  time, 
however,  it  originated  a  tendency  which  we  cannot  but  regard  as  un- 
fortunate. The  Church  was  taught  to  rely  too  much  upon  funds,  and 
to  think  too  little  of  the  duty  of  an  immediate  support  of  its  causes  by 
its  members.  Zinzeiidorf  \va<  opposed,  upon  iniui  iplc,  to  collecticms. 
He  was  very  willing  to  receive  such  gifts  as  were  altogether  voluntary  ; 
but  he  disliked  appeals  for  aid  and  the  gathering  in  of  stated  contri- 
butions. The  chief  reason  which  he  assigued  for  this  position  was, 
that  he  did  not  think  it  right  to  interfere  with  those  Christian 
causes  which  had  existed  prior  to  the  renewal  of  the  Brethren's 
Church,  and  which  needed  all  the  support  they  could  get.  As  an 
instance  of  the  mind  that  was  in  him  in  this  respect,  I  may  refer 
to  the  astonishing  question  which  he  put  to  the  Lutherans  in  Phila- 
delphia, in  1742,  when  at  their  earnest  request,  he  was  about 
taking  temporary  charge  of  their  church,  whose  pulj>it  was  vacant. 
Assembled  in  solemn  conclave  to  arrange  with  him  the  particulars 
of  his  pastorate,  he  solemnly  asked  them :  "  Kd)iat  ihr  das  Gebea 
lassen  ?"    (Can  you  stop  giving  ?) 

Now  while  some  of  the  ordinary  expenses  of  the  individual  churches, 
or,  rather  settlements,  as  they  arose  from  time  to  time,  were  borne  by 
themselves  and  by  the  various  industries  which  were  established  in  them, 
the  demands  of  the  Unitas  Fratruni  as  such  had  to  be  met  by  Zinzeu- 
dorf.  These  demands  were  :  tlie  support  of  the  growing  Foreign  Mis- 
sions, and  of  the  Domestic  jNlissions  on  the  Continent  of  Europe,  as 
well  as  of  the  extensive  itinerancies  connected  with  the  latter ;  the  suj)- 
port  of  the  schools  and  of  the  Theological  Seminary ;  the  rent  of 
domains  which  had  been  leased  for  the  Church  ;  the  cost  of  erecting 
Brethren's  and  Sisters'  Houses  in  the  vai'ious  settlements,  as  also  other 
public  buildings,  if  they  may  so  be  called;  the  support  of  what  is  de- 
nominated in  our  history  "  the  Pilgrim  Congregation,"  which  consisted 
of  Zinzeudorf  and  his  family  together  with  the  other  heads  of  the 
Unitas  Fratrum,  and  which  had  its  seat  sometimes  in  Germany,  some- 
times in  Holland,  and  sometimes  in  England,  directing  the  Church 
and  its  various  enterprises,  devising  plans  for  the  spread  of  tlu 
Gospel,  and  sending  out  Ministers  and  Missionaries  into  all  i)arts  of 
the  world  ;  the  support  of  the  Ministers  who  labored  in  churches  other 
than  those  in  the  midst  of  which  the  "  Pilgrim  (Congregation"  happened 
to  be,  who,  however,  received  no  salary,  but  merely  the  necessaries  of 
life  ;  and,  finally,  the  heavy  expenses  caused  l)y  the  sending  out  of  tol- 
ouies  to  America  and  elsewhere,  and  the  purchase  of  lantl  lor  their  u.-e. 


•  6 

It  was  quite  impossible  for  Zinzeudorf  to  meet  all  these  demuuds 
with  his  mere  income,  which,  at  first,  was  moderate,  but,  after  he  had 
inherited  his  grandmother's  splendid  estate,  grew  to  be  large.  Hence, 
in  addition  to  his  income  and  to  what  was  voluntarily  given  by  mem- 
bers and  friends  of  the  Clmrcli,  he  raised  extraordinary  amounts  by 
mortgaging  his  domains.  Tlu'  title  to  them  w-as  vested  in  his  wife,  to 
whom  he  had  transferred  them  in  the  early  part  of  his  career,  and  thus 
anticipated  an  order,  which  subsequently  reached  him,  from  the  Saxon 
Government  to  alienate  his  estates.  This  transfer  delivered  Herrnhut 
from  the  hands  of  its  enemies. 

The  Countess  Zinzendorf,  who  was  an  extraordinary  woman,  a 
princess  of  God — "eine  Fiirstinn  Gottes" — managed  the  finances  of  the 
family,  and  hence  of  the  Church,  with  wonderful  judgment  and  devoted 
faithfulness.  If  she  had  not  displayed  such  unusual  ability,  many  of  the 
early  entcrjirises  of  the  Unitas  Fratrum  would  never  have  been  carried 
out.  Jonas  Paulus  Weiss  was  her  j)rincipal  book-keeper  and  assistant, 
and  did  niucli  to  further  its  interests.'  About  the  year  1730,  money 
was  raised,  inr  the  first  time,  on  the  estates,  the  rate  of  interest  being 
six  per  cent.  Six  years  later,  Zinzendorf  was  banished  from  Saxony. 
His  erediturs  heeanie  alarmed  and  demanded  the  payment  of  their 
loans.  Tiiis  was  the  first  financial  crisis  in  the  history  of  the  Church. 
But  it  ([uiekly  passed  away.  For  the  Lord  raised  up  friends  in  Hol- 
land who  offered  new  loans  at  three  per  cent.  The  offer  was  thankfully 
accepted  and  (lie  clamorous  creditors  were  paid. 

In  1741,  when  Zinzeudorf  set  out  for  America,  a  committee  was 
appointed,  under  tiie  name  of  the  "General  Diacony,"  to  advise  with 
the  Countess  in  the  management  of  the  finances.  About  the  same  time, 
contributions  began  on  the  part  of  the  members.  But  there  was  no 
system.  Some  ga  ve  nuieh  ;  others  nothing  at  all.  Missionary  Societies, 
too,  were  or-aiii/.ed,  wliieh  helped  to  support  the  foreign  work.  In 
spite  of  all  this,  ho\vev(a-,  the  expenses  of  the  Church  increased  in  an 
alarming  uuuiner. 

During  Zinzendorf's  absence  a  number  of  lunv  settlements  were 
founded  in  Germany,  calling  for  heavy  loans ;  while  the  Missions  in 
other  lands  continued  to  grow.  In  1745,  that  lamentable  period  began 
which  is  known  as  "  the  time  of  sifting,"  when,  in  various  German 


'  .lonas  Piuilns  Weiss,  born  .Janiiai-v  0,  1690,  at  NureiiilnTu,  .lied  Se|.(rinl)er7lli, 
1779,  at  Ilermhnt,  was  a  ricli  iiHMrliaut  win.  scUlcl  al  llrmiliui,  m  1710,  and 
joined  the  Cliun^h.  He  devolcd  liiinsell'  to  its  service  w  ith  .scl l-dcn v iii^  /.eai,  and 
wivs  elected  a  member  of  llie  Unity's  Warden's  Board  by  the  General  .Synod  of 
1764.  He  w;i.s  orijfinal  in  all  his  words  and  ways,  and  one  of  the  few  leaders  of 
the  Church  who  maintained  llieir  independence  over  against  Zinzendorf. 


churches,  not  only  gross  fanaticism  showed  itself,  but  the  simplicity  ami 
economy  also  of  former  yeai-s  were  forgotten,  and  money  was  borrowed 
and  spent  in  a  reckless  way.  Scarcely  had  this  evil  been  overcome, 
when  the  settlement  of  Herruhaag,  in  Middle  Germany,  was  broken 
up  (1750),  in  consequence  of  the  enmity  of  the  petty  ruler  to  whose 
domains  it  belonged.  This  catastrophe  entailed  heavy  losses  upon  the 
Church.  Finally,  while  these  were  still  uncovered,  in  the  beginning  of 
1753,  Gomez  Serra,  a  Jewish  banker,  with  whom  large  deposits  had 
been  made,  failed. 

At  that  time,  there  existed  three  distinct  systems  of  credit,  if  I  may 
so  call  them.  The  fii"st  in  Saxony,  whither  Zinzendorf  had  been  in- 
vited to  return  by  the  Government,  in  1747,  and  where  he  had  leased, 
at  its  request,  the  Principality  of  Barby ;  the  second  in  Holland  ;  and 
the  third  in  England.  As  soon  as  the  connection  of  the  Brethren  with 
the  bankrupt  Jew  became  known,  many  of  their  creditors  demanded 
payment.  A  second  crisis  was  thus  brought  on,  which  carried  the 
Church  to  the  very  brink  of  ruin.  Its  liabilities  amounted  to  the  cnor- 
sum  of  81,328,250.  Zinzendorf  was  in  England  at  the  time,  and  the 
creditors  in  that  country  were  particularly  urgent.  In  what  way  could 
they  be  satisfied?  Relying  upon  the  aid  of  the  Lord,  and  making  this 
distressing  subject  one  of  earnest  prayer,  he  came  forward  and  offered 
personally  to  assume  this  whole  frightful  debt,  pledging  himself,  that, 
if  time  were  given  him,  the  interest  should  be  punctually  i)aid,  and  the 
principal  extinguished  in  installments.  His  lawyer  tried  to  dissuade 
him  from  such  a  step,  and  proposed  a  compromise,  according  to  which 
the  creditors  were  to  receive  only  a  percentage. .  But  Zinzendorf  would 
not  listen  to  anything  of  the  kind,  and  insisted  that  every  dollar,  both 
of  the  interest  and  of  the  ijriucipal,  should  be  paid.  The  majority  of 
the  creditoi-s  were  impressed  with  such  probity,  accepted  his  orter,  and 
bought  the  claims  of  those  who  refused  to  do  so. 

In  this  way  the  financial  ruin  and  disgrace  of  the  Church  were  j)re- 
veuted.  But  Zinzendorf  had  assumed  a  fearful  load,  and  the  meeting 
of  his  obligations  caused  him  unceasing  trouble  and  called  forth  un- 
ceasing prayer.  On  the  2d  of  March,  1753,  a  payment  was  due  which 
he  could  not  make.  He  had  expected  a  remittance  from  Holland,  but 
it  did  not  arrive.  Imprisonment  in  the  Fleet,  the  Debtors'  Jail  of 
London,  seemed  inevitable.  He  was  in  momentary  expectation  of  the 
constable  who  was  to  arrest  him  and  Hockel,  a  merchant  that  had  endorsed 
the  note,  when  his  son-in-law.  Bishop  John  de  Watteville,  brought  him 
a  letter  from  Cornelius  van  Laer,  of  Holland,  containing  the  necessarv 
amount.  Such  interpositions  of  Providence  freiiucntly  occurred,  and 
helped  to  strengthen  his  faith  and  that  of  his  brethren.    At  the  same 


8 


time,  he  fully  recognized  the  mistakes  which  had  been  made,  taking 
the  chief  blame  upon  himself  In  a  public  discoui-se,  Avhich  he  caused 
to  be  reported  and  copies  of  which  he  sent  to  all  the  churches,  he  con- 
fessed his  faults,  and  expressed,  in  particular,  his  regret  that  a  better 
system  had  not  been  introduced  in  the  management  of  the  finances. 

It  must  be  remembered,  however,  that  while  such  confessions  were 
undoubtedly  necessary,  neither  Zinzeudorf,  nor  any  of  his  coadjutors, 
had  been  guilty  of  personal  extravagance.  No  one  could  accuse  them 
of  that.    Money  was  s])eiit  recklessly  for  the  Church,  not  for  individuals. 

In  order  to  devise  ways  and  means  for  meeting  the  obligations  which 
he  had  assuineil,  the  Count,  in  October  of  1753,  convened  a  financial 
conference,  in  Lindsey  House,  London.  And  after  his  return  to  Ger- 
many, an  Administrations  Collegium,  or  Committee  of  Administrators, 
was  appointed,  in  the  year  1755.  This  Committee,  whose  chairman 
was  John  Herman  von  Damnitz,*  took  charge  of  the  finances,  and,  in 
addition  to  meeting  the  interest  on  the  debt,  provided  for  the  schools 
and  Missions,  as  also  for  the  support  of  the  Zinzendorf  housekeeping,  as 
it  was  called,  which,  however,  included  all  the  Ministers  in  the  German 
churches,  who  received  a  support  through  it,  but  even  now  no  salaries. 

New  sources  of  revenue  were  providentially  opened  about  this  time. 
Barons  von  Zezschwitz'  and  von  Gersdorf,''  both  members  of  the  Church, 
made  over  to  it  each  an  estate,  while,  at  Herrnhut,  the  linen-weaving 
and  mercantile  establishment  of  Abraham  Diirninger  began  to  prosper 
very  nuich,  paying  thousands  of  dollars  toward  the  expenses  of  the 
Church.'  At  the  Sixteentli  General  Synod,  held  at  Berthelsdorf  in 
1756,  still  further  provision  was  made  for  managing  the  finances,  and 
the  Administrations  Collegium  was  changed  into  a  Direktorial  Colle- 

'  Jolin  HeniKin  von  Damnitz,  born  at  Wurzen,  Saxony,  in  1706,  died  at  Herrn- 
hut in  ITtll,  \vus  .1  (Icsienihint  of  tlie  Holieniian  Brelliren,  and  entered  tlie  service 
of  the  Saxoii  (loveinmenl.  In  1745  lie  joined  the  Ciiurcli  at  Herrniiut,  to  whose 
interests  he  faitlifiilly  devoted  himself.  He  was  constituted  a  Senior  Civilm 
in  1748.  ' 

.John  Henry  von  Zezschwitz,  born  near  ('ainenz,  Saxony,  in  I(j9(),  died,  at 
Herrnhut,  December  9,  177(S,  liad  l)ecn  a  fellow-stndent  of  Zinzendorf  at  Witten- 
berg.   In  174G,  he  joined  tlie  Ciiiiri'h,  and  in  175o  was  constituted  a  Senior  Civiliis. 

'  Sigisniund  Augustus  von  Gersdorf,  born  at  Hernisdorf,  in  Silesia,  in  1702,  died 
at  Herrnhut,  December  5,  1777,  joined  the  Church  in  1742,  was  constituted  a 
a  Senior  Civil  is  in  1750,  and  elet;ted  to  the  Unity's  Wardens'  Board  in  1764. 

^  Abraham  Diirninger  was  born  at  StrassbiUL;  in  17(h;  :ind  died  at  Herrnhut  in 
1773,  where  he  liad  establislied  himself  in  1717.  in  iiis  last  will  and  testament 
he  bequeatiied  his  entire  establishment,  which  still  exists,  to  Trustees  who  were  to 
manage  it  for  the  good  of  the  church  at  Herrnhut  and  of  the  Unity  in  general. 
In  1758,  he  wa.s  ordained  a  Deacon. 


9 


(jium.  In  other  words,  a  lioanl  ol"  Directors,  responsible  not  to  Zin- 
zenilorf,  but  to  the  C'hureh,  was  put  at  tlie  head  of  its  financial  depart- 
ment. 

The  financial  distress,  which  I  have  now  described,  was  not  without 
its  good  results.  In  the  first  place,  it  swept  away  the  reniuants  of 
fanaticism  ;  in  the  second,  it  stimulated  private  beneficence ;  in  the 
tliird,  it  developed  the  various  industries  which  were  carried  on,  so  that 
they  prospered  greatly  ;  in  the  fourth,  it  brought  out  a  feeling  of  unity 
iu  the  whole  Church,  eveu  in  so  distant  a  Province  as  our  own,  and 
originated  the  principle  that  all  must  stand  for  one,  and  one  for  all ; 
and,  finally  and  chiefly,  it  led  to  the  gradual  emancipation  of  the 
Unitas  Fratrum  from  the  autocratic  sway  of  Zinzendorf.  The  finan- 
cial committees  were  the  forerunners  of  the  Executive  Boards  which 
governed  the  Chui-ch  after  the  Counts'  death.  Had  these  committees 
not  existed  during  the  latter  part  of  his  life,  and  necessarily  deprived 
him  of  some  of  his  authority,  the  idea  of  a  successor,  monarchical  in 
power  as  he  had  been,  would  have  found  many  advocates.  Zinzendorf 
himself  recognized  and  approved  of.  the  change,  and,  on  his  death- 
bed, plainly  intimated  that  the  Church  could  carry  on  its  work  with- 
out him,  and  that  Executive  Boards  would  take  his  place. 

He  died.  May  9,  1760.  Four  years  later,  in  the  summer  1764,  the 
Seventeenth  General  Synod  met  at  Marienborn  to  determine  the  future 
constitution  of  the  Unitas  Fratrum,  and,  especially,  to  consider  its 
fiuauces.  It  appeared  that  there  still  remained  a  debt  of  S773,162. 
But  it  appeared  also  that,  since  the  financial  conference  of  1753,  hence 
in  ten  years,  no  less  than  §555,088  of  liabilities  had  been  paid  off. 
This  a-stonishing  result  was  due,  in  particular,  to  the  ability  of  John 
Frederic  Kober,  who  now  stood  at  the  head  of  the  financial  dei)art- 
ment.  He  was  a  lawyer  by  profession,  a  financier  by  nature,  and  a  de- 
voted servant  of  God  by  grace.'  But  there  still  remained  a  heavy 
burden  of  debt.  How  was  it  to  paid,  and  how  were  the  curreut  ex- 
penses to  be  covered,  now  that  Zinzendorf  and  his  wife,  who  had  de- 
ceased iu  1756,  were  both  gone?  Their  estates  had  furnished  the  chief 
source  of  revenue. 


'  John  Frederic  Kober  was  born  December  10,  1717,  at  Alteubiirg,  the  capital 
of  Saxe  Altenburg,  and  died  at  Herrnhut,  August  8,  1786.  He  \v:is  a  graduate  of 
the  University  of  Leipzig  and  entered  the  service  of  Baron  von  Gersdorf.  In 
1747  he  joined  the  Church,  and  became  one  of  its  leading  men,  not  only  in  the 
management  of  its  finances,  but  also  in  securing  concessions  from  various  Govern- 
ments. In  17G9,  he  was  elected  to  tlie  Unity's  Elders'  Conference,  and,  in  1775, 
ordained  a  Senior  Civilis.  He  was  chielly  instrumental  in  giving  to  the  Unitas 
Fratrum  its  present  constitution. 


10 


Ziuzonclorf  left  four  heirs :  three  daughters,  Benigiia,'  Agnes,'-'  and 
Elizabetli,'  and  Count  Henry  XXVIII  Reuss,  a  nephew  of  his  wife.* 
In  law,  the  estates  of  Berthelsdorf  and  Hennersdorf  undoubtedly  be- 
longetl  to  them ;  at  the  same  time,  these  domains  had,  as  undoubtedly, 
been  pledged,  by  their  father  and  uncle,  for  the  |)ayment  of  the  liabili- 
ties of  the  Uuitas  Fratrum.  Its  tiiiniiciid  lutuic,  therefore,  rested  in 
their  hands.  If  they  chose,  they  could  cause  tlie  Cluirch  untold  trouble 
and  practically  ruin  it,  by  taking  the  estates,  and  disavowing  the  mort- 
gages which  rested  upnii  them,  as  debts  for  which  they  were  not  resi)onsible, 
but  wliieh  had  l)eeii  coiitracttd  tnr  the  Unity;  if  they  chose,  they  could 
act  in  the  spirit,  and  accortUng  to  the  mind,  of  Zinzendorf,  and  continue 
the  sacrifices  which  he  had  begun.  Taught  as  they  had  always  been 
to  consider  the  cause  of  the  Lord  and  of  the  Brethren  of  paramount 
importance,  it  was  not  hard  to  foretell  what  the  issue  would  be.  The 
heirs  came  forward,  and,  of  their  own  free  will,  declared,  that  they  de- 
sired no  change,  that  they  acknowledged  the  liabilities  of  the  estates,  and 
that  their  revenues  should  be  used,  as  theretofore,  for  the  good  of  the 
Cluirch. 

Its  leading  men,  however,  also  deserve  their  share  of  praise.  They 
might,  (HI  their  jnirt,  have  said:  The  (Miormnus  liabilities,  resting  ujion 
the  Zinzendorf  property,  do  not,  m ordiiiu-  in  ihe  h  tter  of  the  law, 
concern  us.  They  were  assumed  by  the  Count  peisonally.  It  is  true, 
it  was  done  for  the  Church,  but  the  Church,  as  such,  did  not  contract 
the  debts,  and  has  not,  by  the  minutest  scrap  of  paper,  made  itself  rc- 
sjjonsible  for  them.  Such  thoughts,  however,  were  not  entertained,  for  a 
single  moment,  by  any  one.    On  the  contrary,  the  new  heads  of  the 

'  Zhizendorf  had  twelve  cliildren  all  of  whom  died  in  infancy  except  the  above 
mentioned  three  daughters  and  one  son.  Count  Christian,  who  died  unmarried  in  1752. 
The  Countess  Beuigua,  horn  December  28,  ITli^,  al  P,crtiiols,loi-i;  died  May  11,  1789, 
al  Ilerrnhut,  was  married,  in  174(5,  to  Baron  .Idiii  dr  \V:iUrvillo,  tiy  wliom  she  had 
several  children,  two  of  wIkuii  married  and  had  i^^uc,  nuinely,  the  oldest  daughter, 
Anna  Dorothy  i;iizal)etli,  who  hecaiiie  ihc  wife  of  .lohn  ( 'hrisiian  .-Vlexander  dc 
Sehweinitz,  and  anotiier  daughter,  Maiia  .lustina,  who  lu'caiue  the  wife  of  Count 
Henry  LV  Keiiss  Kostrit/,.  John  ile  Watteville,  Zinzeuilorf 's  son-in-law,  born 
October  18,  1718,  at  Walschlehou,  iu  Thuriugia,  <lied,  October  7,  1788,  at  Gnaden- 
frei,  was  the  Coinil's  iirinci|ial  assisl.ml,  ami,  .iftcr  liis  dcatii,  a  mendjer  of  various 
KN.-riili\.-  Wim-'U.  an.l  limilly      ih.-  I  nilv's  Kl.lrrs"  ('..nfereiice. 

'IMk-C  A-iir>  rii:iriir.|  ('  I    lit.hiia,  liy  whom  she  had  one  son,  who 

married  (hr  <;,„nilrss  Siollin-,  Km  (hcd  uithoiil  issue. 

^'  The  Couulcss  Kli/,al«'lh,  inani.d  I'.an.n  fnderic  Rudolph  de  Watteville,  a 
member  of  tlie  Unity's  I  '.ldcrs'  <  on fi  i i-ncr,  hut  died,  in  1807,  without  issue. 

*  Count  Henry  XX\'l  1 1  IN  us-,  son  ol  the  reigning  Count  Henry  XXIX,  was 
born  in  172G  and  died  in  17'.t7.  He  w.is  au  assistant  of  Zinzendorf,  a.  Senior  Civilis, 
and  a  member  of  the  Unity's  Elders'  Conference. 


11 


lijiitas  Fratniiu  wore  anxious  to  settle  this  iiitrii'ate  (|iiestion  in  an 
honorable  way,  in  a  fraternal  spirit,  and  aeeording  to  the  will  of  the 
Lord.  Consequently  they  made  an  ofler  which  was  to  stantl  by  the 
side  of  that  of  Zinzendorf 's  heirs.  It  was  this :  The  interests  of  the 
Church  and  of  the  Zinzendorf  family  shall  be  sej)arated;  to  the  latter 
shall  be  paid  out  a  ca])ital  mutually  agreed  upon,  and  the  family  shall 
not  be  held  responsible  for  the  debts ;  the  Church  assumes  these,  but, 
at  the  same  time,  receives  from  the  heirs,  as  absolutely  its  own  property, 
the  entire  family  estates,  with  all  their  revenues. 

In  accordance  with  the  views  which  our  fathers,  at  that  time,  enter- 
tained of  the  use  of  the  lot,  this  proposition  and  the  ofter  of  the  hcii"s 
were  submitted  to  its  decision.  The  lot  decided  in  favor  of  the  former. 
Accordingly  a  capital  of  890,000  was  paid  out,  one  half  of  it,  or  845,000, 
to  Count  Reuss,  and  the  other  half,  to  Zinzendorf's  three  daugliters, 
who,  therefore,  received  only  81o,000  each.  The  heirs  declared  them- 
selves fully  satisfied,  although  the  daughters  made  a  great  sacri- 
fice. For  if  the  plan  which  they  proposed  had  been  adoj)ted,  they 
would,  after  the  debt  of  the  Church  would  have  been  extinguished, 
eventually  have  had  two  of  the  finest  estates  in  Saxony,  free  of  all  in- 
cumbrances, for  themselves  and  their  heirs.  I  say  this,  because  I  have 
often  been  astonished  that  neither  Plitt,  nor  any  other  of  our  German 
historians,  acknowledges,  in  any  way,  the  patriotism  which  Zinzendorf's 
daughtei-s,  on  this  occasion,  manifested;  and,  especially,  because  a 
financial  statement  laid  before  our  Provincial  Synod  of  1841)  contains 
the  amazing  assertion,  that  Zinzendorf's  "family  transferred  all  his 
family  estates,  subject  to  all  Jus  debts,  to  the  Unity."  Of  personal  debts, 
contracted  for  his  own  convenience,  Zinzendorf  left  not  a  dollar. 

And  now  the  Synod  began,  with  renewed  zeal,  to  devise  means  for 
paying  off  the  liabilities  of  the  Church.  The  income  of  the  estates,  the 
px'ofits  of  the  trades  and  mercantile  establishments  in  the  various  settle- 
ments, and  contributions,  which  seem,  however,  to  have  rather  been 
taxes  laid  on  the  individual  congregations,  were  to  be  used  for  this  purpose. 

But  this  last  source  of  income  failed  in  a  year  or  two,  and  it  soon 
became  evident  that  the  enactments  of  the  Synod  were  insufficient, 
especially  as  regarded  the  governing  Boards. 

There  were  no  less  than  three  of  them :  namely,  the  Direc- 
tory, the  Board  of  Syndics,  and  the  Unity's  Warden's  Board.  The 
Unity's  Wardens'  Board  took  special  charge  of  the  debt  and  of  the 
whole  credit  system  of  the  Unitas  Fratrum.  The  current  expenses 
were  to  be  made  up,  as  far  as  possible,  by  voluntary  contributions.  But 
this  plan  did  not  work  woll,  nor  was  the  relation  between  the  three 
Boards  properly  defined,  so  that  frequent  collisions  occm-red,  and  the 


12 

ciuise  suffered  in  coiisetiueiice.  Hence  the  Eighteenth  Synod,  in  1769, 
united  all  the  Boards  into  one  body,  which  was  styled  the  Unity's 
Elders'  Conference.  The  Unity's  Wardens'  Board  constituted  its 
financial  department.  This  union  was  an  excellent  measure  and  proved 
a  r<)in]iletc  success.  Otherwise,  however,  the  enactments  of  this  Synod 
as  tducliiiig  tlie  liabilities  were  still  more  unfortunate  than  those  of  the 
Synod  of  1 764.  For  it  laid  down  the  principle  that  the  members  of 
the  Church  must  personally  and  singly  stand  for  the  debt.  This  caused 
great  opposition.  The  Synod,  it  was  said,  claimed  an  unwari-antable 
right  over  the  private  property  of  the  individual. 

Accordingly  the  Elders'  Conference  of  Zeist,  in  Holland,  proposed 
that  tlie  liabilities  should  be  divided  among  the  several  settlements 
and  cluuclies  as  such,  each  one  promising  to  assume  a  certain  part. 
This  proposal  met  with  favor  in  the  Unity's  Elders'  Conference,  but 
otherwise  proved  very  unpopular,  especially  at  Herrnhut,  where  some  of 
the  wealthiest  families  became  so  indignant  that  they  severed  their  con- 
nection with  the  Church.  A  third  and  most  perilous  crisis  seemed  to 
be  aj)i)roaching.  Before  it  actually  broke  out,  however,  the  semi-cen- 
tennial anniversary  of  the  founding  of  the  Renewed  Unitas  Fratrum 
was  celebrated,  on  the  17th  of  June,  1722.  This  occasion  God  over- 
ruled for  good.  A  new  spirit  of  love  and  patriotism  was  awakened. 
At  Herrnhut,  twenty-six  single  sisters  sent  a  letter  to  the  Church 
Council  jiroiiosiiig  a  Sinking  Fund,  to  be  created  through  free-will 
offerings,  and  pledging  their  silver  plate  as  a  beginning.  This  proposal 
met  with  an  cutliusiastic  response,  not  only  at  Herrnhut,  but  in  all  the 
other  churches  also,  iiu  luding  those  of  America.  A  Sinking  Fund  was 
at  once  I'stablished,  undei-  tlie  superintendence  of  Kobei",  assisted  by 
(^uandt.'  These  two  men  were  the  leading  financiers,  and  the  autobi- 
ogi-ajjhy  of  the  latter  is  full  of  instances  of  the  wonderful  way  in  which 
tlic  Lord  assisted  him,  often  at  times  when  everything  seemed  dark,  and 
he  had  obligations  to  meet  without  a  dollar  in  hand. 

I  cannot  forbear  adducing  two  instances.  On  one  occasion  he  found, 
while  at  Leipzig,  that  a  note  of  1500  Thakr  would  be  due  the  next  day. 
He  had  nothing  with  which  to  pay  it,  and  retii-ed  to  rest  heavy  of 
heart.  On  awakening  the  next  morning  the  following  stanza  of  a  hymn 
suggested  itself: 

Tliii  auf  den  Mund  zum  Lobe  dein, 
Bereit  das  Herz  zur  Andacht  fein. 
Den  Glauben  mehr,  stark  den  Vertand, 
Dass  uns  Dein  Nam'  werd  wolil  bekant.'' 


'  J.  CC^uandt  was  elected  to  the  Unity's  Elders'  Conference  in  ]7()9,  and  died 
in  1822. 

Open  our  months  to  pi  aise  Thee ;  i)repare  our  hearts  to  worship  Thee ;  let  our 
faith  be  inereascil,  our  understanding  strengthened,  that  we  may  know  Thy  name. 


13 


He  f'plt  vexed  with  himself  that  liis  heart  shoukl  .sing  anything  ex- 
cept a  Miserere.  On  going  out  for  an  early  walk,  in  great  anxiety,  re- 
volving in  his  mind  what  he  should  do,  he  happened  to  pa-ss  the  post- 
office.  He  went  in  and  inquired  whether  there  were  any  lettei-s  for 
him.  A  letter  was  handed  him.  He  oj)cned  it,  and  it  contained  a 
draft  exactly  covering  the  amount  he  was  in  need  of. 

Again,  toward  the  end  of  177'2,  he  was  sitting,  one  evening  in  his 
room  at  Barby,  where  the  Unity's  Elders'  Conference  had  its  seat.  His 
heart  was  ntterly  oppressed.  At  Ea.ster,  of  the  coming  year,  a  capital 
of  more  than  100,000  Thaler  was  to  be  paid.  He  studied  the  case, 
cast  up  his  accounts,  planned  and  devised  many  things,  until  late  at 
night,  and  yfet  saw  no  light  ahead.  How  was  it  possible  to  meet  so 
large  an  obligation  ?  In  deep  distress,  he  sat  and  brooded  over  this 
question.  Suddeidy  the  watchman  in  the  street  below  began  to  sing  as 
he  i)assed  the  house  : 

Was  kriinkst  Du  didi  in  deinem  Sinn 
Und  griimst  Dich  Tag  und  Naclit ; 
Ximni  Deine  Notli  mid  wirf  sie  hin 
Auf  Den,  der  Dich  gemacht." 

"  Heartily  ashamed  of  my  unbelief,"  he  says,  "  I  instantly  put  away 
my  accounts,  and  retired  to  bed  full  of  hope.  And  lo  !  very  soon,  1 
found  that  the  Lord  had  taken  my  great  trouble  upon  himself.  For  I 
received  intelligence  that  a  suit,  that  had  been  pending  for  ten  years, 
had  just  been  decided  in  favor  of  the  Church,  which  was  to  receive 
145,000  florins  for  the  improvemeuts  which  it  had  made  on  tlie  domain 
of  Marienborn." 

At  the  Nineteenth  General  Synod,  held  at  Barby,  in  1775,  Quandt 
and  Kober  reported  that,  since  the  Synod  of  1 769,  therefore  in  six  years, 
§220,000  of  the  capital  debt  had  been  extinguished.  On  the  occasion 
of  the  Twentieth  Synod,  in  1782,  a  still  further  reduction  was  reported  ; 
and  at  the  Twenty  First,  held  in  1789,  of  the  enormous  amount  of 
81,328,250,  standing  against  the  Unitas  Fratrum  in  1753,  to  which 
must  be  added  the  890,000  paid  out  to  Zinzeudorf's  heirs,  making  the 
total  §1,418,250,  there  remained  only  §444,977  unpaid.  Consequently 
in  thirty-six  years,  §974,253,  or  nearly  one  million,  had  been  paid  off. 
This  result  could  not  have  been  reached,  if  some  of  the  wealthy  heads 
of  the  Church  had  not  maifcsted  great  liberality.  The  same  Count 
Reuss,  lor  example,  who  had  received  one  half  of  the  capital  paid  out 
to  the  Ziuzendorf  family,  on  one  occasion,  assumed  §6,750,  of  the  debt, 
and,  on  another,  gave  §11,250  to  one  of  the  causes  of  the  Unity. 
Gersdorf  and  othei-s  acted  in  the  same  spirit. 


'  Why  art  thou  sick  in  spirit?  Wliy  dost  thou  grieve  day  and  night?  T;ike 
thy  troubles  and  cast  them  upon  Him  wlio  created  thee. 


14 


The  next  Synod,  the  Twenty  Second,  held  in  1801,  proved  to  be  a 
time  of  inibounded  rejoicing,  and  raised  a  Te  Deum  Laudamus,  which 
was  re-echoed  by  the  whole  Church.  Only  $54,000  of  the  debt  re- 
mained unpaid,  and  this  balance  was  assumed  by  the  house  of  Abra- 
ham Diirningcr  &  Co.,  at  Hernnhut.  The  Unitas  Fratrum  was  fi-ee 
at  last.  In  fifty-four  years  it  had  extinguished  liabilities  amounting  to 
nearly  one  and  a  half  million  of  dollars. 

But  new  financial  troubles  soon  began,  caused  by  the  wars  of  Napo- 
leon and  losses  sustained  by  single  Diaconies.  This  was  the  title  given 
to  that  system  of  finances  which 'the  individual  settlements  carried  on. 
A  new  debt  was  created,  which,  however,  was  entirely  paid  off  by  the 
middle  of  tlic  present  century,  prior  to  the  General  Synod  of  1857. 
The  details  of  tliis  second  debt  are  of  minor  importance,  and  would 
lead  me  too  far.  I  proceed,  therefore,  to  the  finances  of  oui-  own 
Province. 

THE  FINANCES  OF  THE  AMERICAN  PROVINCE. 

Leaving  out  of  account  the  temporary  settlement  of  the  Brethren  in 
Georgia,  and  tlie  ])urclinse  of  land  in  that  Colony,  I  begin  with  the  first 
invi'stiiu>iit  made  in  Pennsylvania,  on  the  2d  of  April,  1741,  when 
Henry  Antes,  aclini:  tor  Bishoj)  David  Nitscliman,'  bought  of  William 
Allen,  ol'  riiiladclpliia,  five  liundred  acres  of  land  on  the  Lehigh,  now 
the  site  of  ISrilildicin.  Tliis  jnirchase  was  soon  followed  by  others. 
Li  the  same  year,  llic  entire  tract  "f  tive  thousand  acres  at  Nazareth, 
which  had  beltui-cil  to  (uoriie  Whitefield,  was  sold  to  the  Brethren. 
In  1743,  tliey  houi^lit  twd  liundred  and  seventy-five  acres,  on  the  south 
side  of  tlie  Jjoliigli,  opposite  lieihleheu),  of  John  Simpson,  of  London, 
through  his  attorney,  William  Allen,  of  Philadelphia;  and,  in  1749, 
two  hundred  and  liltv-tliree  acres,  also  on  the  south  side  of  the  Lehigh, 
of  tlie  Widow  Ysselstein.  In  1755,  George  Klein,  of  Lancaster  County, 
Penns\  Ivania,  sold  liis  farm  of  five  hundred  and  eleven  acres,  at  a  low 
rate,  to  the  Cluucli,  for  the  purpose  of  a  Moravian  settlement,  which, 
in  memory  of  that  l>arony  in  Pxihemia  on  which  the  Unitas  Fratrum 
was  founded  in  1457,  received  the  name  of  Lititz. 

Hence  a  body  of  land  of  upward  of  six  thousand  five  hundred 

'  David  Nitsohniaii  was  born  December  27,  169G,  at  Zauchtentlial,  in  Moravia. 
In  1724  he  fled  to  Herrnliiit,  and  became  the  tirst  Bisliop  of  tlie  Renewed  Cluirch, 
receiving  consecration,  in  1735,  from  Bishop  Jablonsky.  He  was  the  founder  of 
Bethlehem,  in  1740  and  1741,  where  he  died,  October  8,  1772.  In  the  course  of 
his  long  and  faithful  service  in  the  Church,  he  undertook  more  than  fifty  sea 
voyages. 


15 


acres,  to  wliioh,  however,  more  wa.s  added  from  time  to  time,  constituted 
the  basis  of  our  provincial  finances ;  and,  as  a  matter  of  course,  the 
settlements  at  Bethlehem,  Nazareth  and  Lititz,  their  three  chief  centres. 
I  leave  out  of  the  (juestion  the  settlement  at  Hope,  in  New  Jersey, 
begun  in  1774,  because  it  was  again  relinijuished  in  1808;  and  the 
large  domain  in  North  Carolina,  bought  of  the  Earl  of  Granville,  be- 
cause it  belongs  to  the  financial  history  of  the  Southern  Province. 

The  money  necessary  for  the  i)iirchase  of  this  land  was,  for  the  most 
part,  furnished  by  the  Unity  at  large,  and  therefore,  in  jjoint  of  fact, 
by  Count  Zinzendorf.  In  some  instances,  however,  other  brethren 
appear  to  have  used  their  private  funds  for  this  purpose.  Not  all  the 
land  was  paid  for  in  cash.  In  many  cases,  merely  bonds  and  securities 
were  given.  Thus  the  American  Province  came  into  financial  connec- 
tion with  the  Church  in  Europe,  and  helped  to  create  the  debt  of  the 
Unity. 

Now  there  are  two  points,  of  a  peculiar  character  and  of  special 
interest,  belonging  to  our  provincial  finances. 

From  1742  to  1762,  Bethlehem,  Nazareth,  and  the  smaller  settle- 
ments which  arose  in  its  vicinity,  such  as  Gnadeuthal,  Christianspring, 
and  Friedensthal,  were  united  in  a  so-called  "  Economy."  Of  this 
Economy,  Bethlehem  was  the  centre.  Lititz,  as  far  as  I  know,  never  be- 
longed to  it ;  nor  was  such  an  arrangement  introduced  anywhere  else 
by  the  Brethren,  except,  for  a  short  time,  at  Bethabara  in  North 
Carolina.  It  was  semi-communistic  in  its  character.  The  inhabitants 
of  the  Bethlehem  and  Nazareth  tracts  formed  an  exclusive  association, 
in  which  jirevailed  a  communism,  not  of  goods,  but  of  labor.  Those 
who  had  private  property  retained  the  control  of  it.  But  no  one 
worked  for  himself,  or  carried  on  business  of  his  own.  All  gave  their 
time  and  the  labor  of  their  hands  to  the  Church,  whether  as  iarmers. 
or  mechanics,  or  storekeepers,  or  in  any  other  capacity.  In  return  they 
received  the  necessaries  of  life  from  the  Church. 

This  association  prospered  greatly,  by  the  blessing  of  the  Lord. 
Not  only  did  it  yield  the  inhabitants  themselves  a  comfortable  support, 
but  it  also  maintained  an  exteu.sive  itinerancy  among  the  settlers  in  vari- 
ous of  the  Colonies,  supported  the  entire  Mission  among  the  Indians, 
and  helped  to  found  and  and  keep  up,  in  the  first  years  of  their  exist- 
ence, a  number  of  other  Moravian  churches  which  were  organized  in 
America,  and  which  were  known  as  "  the  city  and  country  congrega- 
tions." Such  churches  arose  in  Philadelphia  and  New  York,  at  Heidel- 
berg, Hebron,  Bethel,  and  York,  Lancaster,  Mt.  Joy,  Emmaus,  and 
Oley.  In  some  cases,  however,  for  example,  at  Emmaus,  Hebron, 
Heidelberg,  individual  mendiers  gave  land  for  the  church-edifices  and 


parsonages,  and  for  the  support  of  the  minister;  and,  in  all  cases,  these 
congregations  did  what  they  could  to  maintain  themselves.  They 
never  became,  however,  origanically  factors  in  the  finances  of  the 
Province.  Whetlier,  through  the  profits  of  the  Economy,  any  part  of 
the  original  purcliiise-nioney  for  tlie  land  was  paid  off,  I  cannot  tell, 
but  deem  it  very  probaltle. 

It  must,  tlierofbre,  never  be  forgotten  that,  when  the  Economy  was 
abrogated,  the  American  property  of  the  lenity  bad  been  immensely 
improved  by  the  hard  and  gratuitous  labor  of  the  inhabitants  of  the 
Bethlehem  and  Nazareth  Tracts,  who  had  made  a  wilderness  to  blossom 
as  the  rose  and  introduced  all  manner  of  industries,  some  of  which 
yielded  cunsiderable  profits. 

Tile  (ither  |)e('uliar  feature  of  our  finances  was  the  appointing  of 
noiniual  Proprietors,  who  held  the  real  estate  of  the  Church,  in  fee 
simple,  and  the  investments  in  their  own  name.  This  arrangement 
was  introduced  in  order  to  avoid  incorporations.  In  some  instances  the 
Prdprieidis,  were,  at  the  same  time,  the  Administratoi's,  that  is,  the  men 
wlio  adnuiiistered  both  the  estates  and  the  investments;  in  others,  this 
was  the  case.  Whenever  the  Proprietor  and  the  Administrator  were 
two  diHcrcnt  brethren,  the  former  gave  the  latter  a  general  power  of 
attorney,  which  enabled  him  to  act  in  all  cases  according  to  his  own 
judgment.  As  soon  as  a  Proprietor  came  into  possession  of  the  estates, 
he  executed  his  last  will  and  testament,  leaving  them  to  his  successor, 
who  was  appointed  by  the  Unity's  Elders'  Conference.  At  the  same 
time,  he  gave  to  this  body  a  solemn  pledge  in  writing  that  he  would,  to 
the  best  of  his  ability,  administer  the  property  for  the  good  of  the 
Church,  and  not  in  any  way  use  it  for  personal  ends. 

I  consider  this  feature  in  our  finances  one  of  the  most  remarkable 
known  in  all  financial  history,  and  a  wonderful  instance  of  brotherly 
faith  and  confidence.  Kever  was  there  the  most  distant  attempt  made 
to  abuse  this  trust,  which,  at  one  time,  involved  hundreds  of  thousands 
of  dollars.  The  Proprietor  held  not  only  the  pnipcrty  of  the  Unity  as 
such,  but  also  that  of  the  Moravian  settlements  in  America,  as  also  the 
titles  of  most  of  the  church-edifices  and  parsonages  of  the  city  and 
country  congregations.  In  some  cases,  however,  these  stood  in  the 
name  o'f  Trustees,'  or  in  the  name  of  the  "  Society  for  Propagating  the 
Gospel  among  the  Heathen,"  organized  in  1787,  and  incorporated  in 
the  following  year^the  first  body  corporate  which  our  Church  in  this 
country  ever  had. 

Now  it  appears  that  the  original  purchases  of  the  land  were  made 
by  various  agents  who,  from  time  to  time,  transferred  it  to  what  are 
called  in  law  "  -Joint  Tenants."    These  Joint  Tenants  were  Bishop 


17 


Spaugenberg,"  Henry  Antes,''  and  David  Nitsolunann."  On  the  21st  of 
November,  1751,  Spangenl)erg  and  Antes  issned  a  release  by  which 
they  nominally  sold  the  two-third  part  of  the  property  to  the  remain- 
ing tenant,  David  Nitschmann,  who  thus  became  the  sole  proprietor,  in 
fee  simple,  of  all  the  estates  of  the  Church.  Thereupon,  on  the  26th 
of  May,  1757,  the  said  David  Nitschmann  executed  his  last  will  and 
testament,  in  which  he  appointed  Bishops  Spaugenberg  and  Boehler  his 
executors,  with  directions  to  sell  his  real  estate,  as  they  might  see  fit, 
for  the  payment  of  the  debts  of  the  American  Province  of  the  Church, 
contracted  in  his  name.  Nitschmann  died  in  the  following  year,  and  his 
executors  sold  the  estates  to  Bishop  Nathaniel  Seidel,*  who  had  been 
designated  as  the  next  j^roprietor,  and  who,  in  lieu  of  purchase  money, 
assumed  all  the  said  debts.  On  the  20th  of  June,  1770,  Seidel  exe- 
cuted his  last  will  and  testament,  in  which  he  left  the  entire  estates  to 


'  Augustus  Gottlieb  Spaugenberg,  A.  M.,  was  born  July  15, 1704,  at  Klettcnbcrg, 
in  Germany.  He  studied  at  tlie  University  of  Jena,  and  became  a  Professor  at 
that  of  Halle.  In  17.S7,  he  joined  the  Brethren.  After  having  visited  Georgia 
and  Pennsylvania  in  173o  to  1739,  lie  was  consecrated  a  Bishop  in  1744,  and  re- 
turned to  America,  where  he  ])resided  over  the  Church  until  174S,  and  again  from 
1751  to  1762.  From  1702  to  1769,  he  was  a  member  of  the  Executive  Board  in 
Germany,  and,  from  1769  to  1792,  President  of  tlie  Unity's  Eldei-s'  Conference. 
He  died  September  18,  1792.  He  was  one  of  tiie  most  distinguished  heads  of  the 
Unitas  Fratrum. 

-  Henry  Antes  was  a  wheelwright,  farmer,  and  magistrate,  of  Falkner's  Swamji, 
now  Frederic  Township,  Montgomery  County,  Pennsylvania.  He  leased  his  farm 
to  the  Brethren  for  the  purposes  of  a  school,  while  he  spent  five  years  at  Betlile- 
hem,  superintending  the  erection  of  mills  and  houses.  In  1748,  he  was  constituted 
a  Consenior  Civilis.    He  died  July  20, 1755,  and  was  buried  on  his  form. 

^  David  Nit-schmann  was  the  uncle  of  Bishop  Nitschmann,  and  was  born  on  the 
29tli  of  September,  1676,  at  Zauciitenthal,  Moravia.  He  suffered  a  severe  impris- 
onment on  account  of  his  faitii,  but  escaped  to  Herrnhut  in  1725.  After  having 
labored  in  tlie  W.  I.,  he  came  to  America  with  his  uncle,  in  1740,  and  cut  down 
the  first  tree,  with  the  assistance  of  Martin  Mack,  for  the  building  of  Betlilehem. 
He  died  April  14,  1758.  He  was  the  father  of  tiie  well  known  Deaconess,  Anna 
Nitschmann. 

*  Nathaniel  Seidel  w;ts  born,  October  2,  1718,  at  Lauban,  in  Sa.xony,  and  was  of 
Bohemian  descent.  In  1739,  he  Joined  the  Bretiiren,  and  served  tiie  Ciiurch  in 
Germany  in  various  capacities.  He  came  to  Americii  in  1742,  and  spent  the 
next  sixteen  years  of  his  life  mostly  on  missionary  tours  in  Nortii  and  Soulli 
America,  Germany,  England  and  the  West  Indies.  In  1758,  he  was  consecrated 
a  Bisliop,  and,  in  1701,  succeded  Spaugenberg  as  the  head  of  the  American  Cliurch, 
whicii  (wsitiou  he  occupied  until  his  death,  May  17,  1782. 


Frederic  William  dc  Mar.sfhall.'  Both  in  Nitsfhiiuinn'.s  aud  Seidel's 
last  wills  aud  testainonts  there  had  been  a  want  ()fexj)licitue8s  in  setting 
forth  the  difierenoe  between  their  private  projjerty  and  what  they  held 
for  theC!hureh.  But  their  personal  lieirs  cheerfully  gave  the  necessary 
releases  aud  other  jiapers,  so  that,  a  few  years  after  Seidel's  death> 
Marschall  was  in  full  and  legal  possession  of  everything  that  belonged 
to  the  Church.  He  also  had  the  satisfaction  of  rescuing  the  North 
Carolina  estates,  which  were  held  by  James  Huttou,  of  London,  and 
which  were  in  great  danger  of  being  coniiscated  in  the  Revolutionary 
War.  Marschall  was  in  England  at  (In  time,  and  hastened  home, 
where  he  gave  to  the  Legislature  of  Js'ortli  Carolina  a  full  and  true 
account  of  the  character  of  the  Church's  property  in  that  C'olony,  and 
was  ackuowdedged  by  this  body  as  the  legal  proprietor. 

Meanwhile,  Bishop  Bpangenberg,  who  had  managed  the  Economy 
like  a  Spartan  lawgiver,  was  recalled  to  Europe,  iu  1762,  in  order  to 
take  his  seat  in  the  Interim  Executive  Board,  as  it  was  called,  organ- 
ized immediately  after  Zinzendorf's  death.  Thereupon  the  P>onomy 
was  given  uj),  l)y  mutual  c()iis(Mit,  and  the  inhabitants  of  the  Bethlehem 
and  Na/.iireth  Tracts  l)uiii;lil  ol' the  Chuich  either  land,  or  the  stock  and 
fixtures  of  the  trades  which  they  had  been  carrying  on,  and  began 
business  on  their  own  account  and  in  their  own  names.  Bethlehem, 
Nazareth,  and  Lititz,  however,  remained  exclusive  Moravian  settle- 
ments, and  a  number  of  Bninchoi,  as  they  wviv  denominated,  that  is, 
business  enterprises  of  various  kinds,  were  still  conducted  for  the 
Church.  But  none  of  these  seltlenients  had  any  property  of  their  own. 
It  belonged  to  the  I'nitas  I'ratrum  as  such,  and  was  managed  by  what 
was  known  as  the  "  General  Diacony."  This  state  of  affiiirs  continued 
from  1762  to  1771. 

According  to  tlie  principles  laid  down  by  the  General  Synods  of 
1764  and  176!),  a  elKiiii;!'  hecaine  necessary.  Hence,  on  the  16th  of 
November,  1770,  tin  re  aniveil  at  Bethlehem  a  deputation  sent  to 
America  by  the  I'liitN  's  ]%lders' C'onterenee,  and  instructed  to  arrange 
the  financial  aiiiiirs  of  the  American  Province  on  the  new  basis  estab- 


•  '  Frederic  William  de  Marschall  was  born  nt  Sioliicn,  a  .Siixmi  ^lu  i  ison-towii,  of 
which  his  fattier  was  the  commandant.  He  ic(  ci\ cil  :i  snicl  uililimy  cliuntioii, 
but  sulise<inc'ntly  joined  tlic Clmrch,  tilling  viii  iDiis  ini|>()i  l:nit  olliccs  in  the(ierinan 
Province.  In  17G1  he  came  to  America  as  (  iciu  rai  Warden  and  Hishop  Seidel's 
Assistant.  In  1708,  he  was  put  at  llic  head  nf  Ihi-  Sdnllicrn  Province,  with  the 
title  of  Oecnnnmiii.1.  In  this  posll  ion  In  romaincd  luilil  his  death,  l<\'brnary,  1 1 , 
1S02.  In  1775,  he  was  ordain.,!  ,S', /,,../  CV/v7/,v.  n,.  was  one  of  the  nn>st  dislin- 
gnisiied  fathers  of  the  American  .Morav  ian  Chnreli. 


19 


li^■lle(l  1)V  tlio  Synod.  'Hiis  (Icputation  consisted  of  Christian  (iregor,' 
John  Luictz,'  and  John  Chiistkin  Alexander  de  Hchweinit/,."  Gregor 
and  Loretz  were  nienihcrs  of  the  Unity'f'  Ehlers'  (inference;  Schwei- 
nitz  was  to  remain  in  America  as  tlie  first  Administrator  of  the  Unity's 
Eiders'  Conference. 

The  work  which  this  depntation  had  to  do  was  an  exceedingly  com- 
plicated and  difficult  one,  but,  after  protracted  deliberations  with  the 
Provincial  authorities,  the  authorities  of  the  Bethlehem  Congregation, 
and  its  members  as  represented  in  church-council,  an  agreement,  satis- 
factory to  all  parties,  was  reached,  by  the  beginning  of  summer,  in  the 
year  1771. 

Its  principal  [uiints  were  these:  First,  the  Church  at  Bethlehem  i^ 
to  be  made  financially  independent,  and  to  he  ])ut  on  the  same  footing 
as  the  Moravian  settlements  in  Europe. 

Second,  said  Church  accordingly  buys  of  the  General  Diacony. 
hence  of  the  Unity  at  large,  three  thousand  nine  hundred  and  sixty- 
four  acres  and  eighty-nine  perches  of  its  laud,  at  £2  Penu.  per  acre,  a> 
also  all  tho.se  buildings,  trades,  and  business  concerns  of  the  town 
which  still  belong  to  said  General  Diacony,  the  whole  property,  land, 
houses,  and  business  concerns,  being  valued  together  at  £20,000 
Penu. 

Third,  said  Church  pays  for  this  property  by  assuming  .i'20,00o 
Penu  of  the  debt  of  the  Uuitas  Fratrum,  equivalent  to  alioni 
887,000. 

Fourth,  said  Church  pledges  itself  to  pay  a  certain  amount  annu- 
ally, out  of  its  i)rofits,  to  Provincial  expenses,  to  the  American  Susten- 
tation  Diacony  now  first  to  he  established,  and  to  the  Sustentation 
Diacony  of  the  Unity  in  Euro])e,  and  begins  a  Diacony  of  its  own. 

This  agreement — I  omit  minor  details — was  signed  on  the  1st  of 
June,  1771,  on  the  part  of  the  Unity  by  Nathaniel  Seidel,  Chri.stian 

'  Clii'istian  Gregor  was  born  at  Diersdorf,  in  Silesia,  .January  1,  1723.  He  was 
a  distinguished  musician  and  editor  of  the  German  Hymn  Hook  of  177S.  From 
1704  to  ISOl,  he  .served  in  the  Executive  Boards  and  the  I'nity's  lOldeis'  Confer- 
ence. In  1789  he  was  consecrated  a  Bishop.  He  paid  otlicial  visits  to  Holland, 
England,  Russia  and  America,  and  died,  November  6,  1801. 

John  Loretz  was  a  Swiss  by  birth,  and  entered  the  Unity's  Elders'  Conference 
in  1769.    He  died  in  1798.    He  wrote  the  Hulio  Disciplhm: 

John  Christian  Alexander  dc  Schweinitz  was  born  on  his  father's  estate  of 
Nicder  Leuba,  in  Upper  Liisatia,  on  llic  17th  of  October,  1740.  From  ]7(')4  to  17(>9 
he  was  Secretary  of  the  Mission  Board.  After  serving  as  Administrator  for 
twenty-seven  years,  he  was  elected  to  the  Unity's  Elders'  Conference,  and  died 
February  20,  1S02.  In  ISO],  lie  was  ordained  a  Sriiwr  Cixilh.  His  second  wife, 
whom  be  married  at  Betlileliem,  in  177!),  was  a  grand-daughter  of  Zin/.eudorf. 


\ 


Gregor,  John  Lorez,  and  John  Christian  Alexander  de  Schweinitz  ;  on 
the  part  of"  Bethlehem,  by  Jeremiah  Dencke,  the  "Warden,  John  Ett- 
wein,  the  Stnior  ]\riiiistcr,  and  John  Arbo,  Jacob  Weissinger,  and 
Geortic  liulu  r,  uproseuting  the  financial  concerns  of  the  Brethren's^ 
Widow",'^,  ami  Si.-tci-"s  Houses. 

The  j)ricc  wliicli  Bethlehem  i)aid  for  the  land  is  said,  by  old  docu- 
ments, to  have  been  vi  rv  hi<;h,  especially  as  one-third  of  it  was  Lehigh 
Mountain  land,  which  w  as,  it  is  fuiilu^r  said,  not  worth  the  taxes.  But 
there  was  no  dissatisiactiDii  ex])iesse(l.  All  jiarties  were  actuated  by 
true  pati'iotisiii  to  the  Cliureh.  The  Unity's  El(h'rs'  Conference,  when 
tiiev  heard  of  this  settlement,  wrote  a  letter  to  the  Conference  at  Beth- 
lehem, saying,  "  that  they  had  been  moved  to  tears  of  joy."  Subsequently 
a  further  promise  was  given,  that  the  incrementum  latens  of  the  pro- 
perty, that  is,  jirofits  growing  out  of  its  increased  value,  in  case  its 
value  did  increase,  shonld  be  so  api^lied  that  the  kingdom  of  God  and 
the  Bretliren's  Church  would  rca])  the  benefit. 

Similar  arrangements  were  made,  in  1772  and  1775  at  Nazareth, 
and,  at  a  later  lime,  at  Jvititz. 

From  this  lu  ici  incnunt  of  the  agreement  entered  into  betM-ecn  the 
Unity  and  the  tlirec  IMoravian  towns  in  America,  it  will  apjiear,  that 
the  iolldwing  paragrajih,  tuiind  in  a  Statement  of  Historical  Facts  pre- 
sented 111  our  I'royin^eial  SvikhI  nf  1  sri,')  (Journal  p.  99):  namely, 
"  These  congregations  agreed  in  a  In-olhei-Iy  way  n(tt  to  entertain  any 
further  ehiims  on  the  property  of  llie  Unity,  but,  on  the  other  hand, 
the  agrt'cmcnt  was  understoo<l  to  ln'  a  fair  contract,  releasing  likewise 
these  cjijiyregations  from  all  ili.<tlncf  claims  on  the  part  of  the  Unity  in 
generar — is  unhistorical  and  inrorreet. 

I  have  now  icaelied  the  lie^inning  of  the  indejiendcnt  history  of 
our  Prov  incial  linances.  In  1771,  tlu-  Snsteutation  Diacouy,  or  as  we 
call  it,  the  Sn>tentalion  l-'iind,  was  e.-tablislied,  and,  along  with  it, 
auotlier,  Icnown  as  tlie  Scliool  Diacony,  for  the  education  of  the  cliil- 
dren  of  ministers.  In  niodciii  times,  during  the  incund)eiic\  of  tlie 
late  riiiii])  II.  (loejip,  tlie  two  were  consolidated.  These  J)iaconies 
stood  under  the  control  of  tlie  I'loviucial  Helpers'  Conference.  In  the 
same  year,  1771,  that  part  of  the  Unity's  property  in  America,  which 
had  ^lo^be^n  sold^  to  BethleheiUj  Nazaretlvaj^  and  which  was 

very  considerable,  began  to  be  managed,  for  the  good  of  the  Unitas 
Fratrum  at  large,  as  a  jiai  t  of  the  assets  held  by  the  Unity's  Warden's 
Board  in  Cieimany,  liy  Scliwcinilz,  its  lii'st  American  Administrator. 
He  had  an  ollicial  seat  in  tlu'  J'lovincial  Helpers'  CVmference. 

But  neither  the  Sustentation  nor  the  School  Diacony  owned  any 
funds.  Their  receipts  were  exceedingly  linntcd.  In  the  course  of 
/ 


21 


yciirs,  they  ircoivod,  occasional ly,  small  i)C(|Ui'sts,  and  hc^aii  an  exten- 
sive system  of  credit.  But  down  to  nearly  the  middle  of  the  present 
century,  they  had  hardly  one  thousand  dollars  invested  in  stocks,  and 
their  entire  assets  were  not  much  more  tluxn  S?25,000,  a  large  part  of 
which  was  unproductive.  Their  chief  sourcjes  of  income  were  the 
stated  amounts  paid,  every  year,  l>y  the  Bethlehem,  Ka/.areth,  and 
Litity.  Diaconics,and,  espc'ci;ill  \ ,  1  111  iiniilts  of  the  Boariliiin  Silmols.  The 
city  and  country  congi-egatidiis  \\\  ro,  indeed,  pledii-ed  In  lak<'  up  annual, 
or  senvi-anuual,  collections  in  aid  of  the  Sustcntatiou,  and  ol'thc  School 
Diacony,  in  particular.  This  was  stipulated  as  early  as  1771.  But 
such  collections  were  exceedingly  irregular,  often  very  small,  and  oiteu 
failed  altogether. 

And  yet,  in  spite  of  its  insufficient  income,  the  obligations  of  the 
Sustentation  Diacony  gradually  grew  to  be,  and  remain  to  the  present 
day,  the  following : 

The  general  expenses  of  the  Provincial  Coulereucc,  tom'thcr  with  the 
salaries  of  such  of  its  members  as  hold  no  other  otWvv  ;  aid  to  ministers 
serving  congregations  which  do  not  give  them  an  adecpiate  sujiport ; 
the  deficit,  if  any,  on  the  publications  of  the  C'luircli  ;  the  education  of 
the  children  of  ministers;  the  expenses  of  the  Tlnuli' lii  :il  iniii;iry, 
in  so  far  as  they  are  not  made  up  by  its  own  ivsnurci .- ;  ami,  e<|iei  ially, 
the  pensions  paid  to  suj)erannuated  ministers  and  \vi(h)ws  of  min- 
isters. 

What  wonder  that  the  Sustentation  Diacony  fell  into  debt,  bor- 
rowing large  amounts  from  the  Administration  at  Bethlehem,  aud, 
hence,  from  the  Unity's  Warden's  Board  in  Germany  !  What  wonder 
that  this  Board  was  obliged,  repeatedly,  to  relieve  our  American  Sus- 
tentation Diacony,  sometimes  making  annual  appropriations  tor  its 
benefit,  aud  sometimes  remitting  to  it  t;i|iital  debts!  It  did  this  on  the 
broad  principle  underlying,  as  I  have  said  in  another  councetiou,  the 
finances  of  the  entire  Unitas  Fratrum,  namely,  that  all  stand  I'or  one,  and 
one  for  all.  And  it  did  tliis  as  late  as  the  year  1847,  when  it  canceled 
an  obligation  of  nearly  Sl-^,000,  which  it  held  against  our  Sustentation, 
on  account  of  Nazareth  Hall.  After  this  most  generous  act,  our  Pro- 
vincial Synod  j)ledged  itself  to  ask  for  no  more  aid. 

Meanwhile  the  Diaconies,  or  the  finances,  of  the  three  jMoravian 
settlements  in  America  were  developed,  and  like  all  other  Diaconies, 
began  an  extensive  system  of  credit.  In  course  of  time,  they  took 
large  amounts  of  money  from  individual  mend)ers  of  the  Church,  for 
which  they  gave  bonds,  and  on  which  they  paid  four  and  a  half  per 
cent,  interest.  Hence  they  became,  in  point  of  fact,  church-savings- 
banks.    But  they  did  not  prosper.    Their  property,  being  mostly  in 


22 


land,  yielded  tlu'iu  l)ut  a.  small  leveiiiu';  they  met  with  heavy  losses ; 
some  uf  them  assumed  the  lU'tieieiieies  of  their  Brethren's  and  Sisters' 
Houses  ;  Bethlehem  was  nearly  ruined  by  the  enormous  cost  of  its  large 
eluirch-edifice,  the  ereetiou  of  whieh,  in  1803,  constituted,  at  that  early 
ilay,  financially,  one  of  tlie  most  insane  projects  ever  undertaken  by 
Moravians;  in  particular,  lunvever,  all  these  Diaconies  were  obliged,  in 
ordei'  to  maintaiu  the  exclusive  system,  to  buy  up  many  properties 
wliii  li  llicy  did  not  want,  and  for  which  they  luul  no  use,  so  as  to  pre- 
vent strano(>rs  from  ^I'tling  possession  of  them.  Hence,  on  the  strength 
of  the  liiiaiii-ial  union  prcvailiiii;'  tlirougliout  the  Church,  the  Unity's 
Warden's  Boartl  came  to  tlu'  assistance  of  these  Diaconies  also,  not  only 
in  the  form  of  heavy  loans,  but  alsn  tluoiigii  direct  apjjropriations  and 
free  gifts.  In  this  way  our  provincial  liuances  grew  continually  more 
involved,  and  were  more  and  more  closely  interwoven  with  those  of  the 
Unity  at  large.  About  tiic  ycai-  1S37,  Bethlehem  owed  the  Adminis- 
tration, and  therefore  llic  I'nity,  s.S(M)UO,  Nazareth  ^iioO/XIO,  and  Lititz 
.S12,0()0,  on  which  loans,  at  lirsl,  live  [)er  cent.,  and  then  lour  and  a 
half,  were  paid.  At  the  same  time,  the  Sustentation,  as  I  have  said, 
was  likewise,  more  or  less,  in  debt  to  the  Unity.  It  became  evident 
that  this  state  of  atiairs  ought  not  to  continue,  and  that  .some  change  of 
system  was  necessar}'. 

During  all  this  period,  the  city  and  country  congregations  of  the 
l*i-ovinci'  still  stood  in  no  (ir^aiiic  union  with  its  linaiices,  and,  indeed, 
iiad  little  connection  of  any  kind  with  them.  Whenever  a  connection 
did  exist,  it  was  to  llieir  advanlai:c,  in  as  nnich  as  they  borrowed  money 
I'rom  the  Sustentation  i)v  the  Administration. 

And  now,  in  order  that  the  change  of  system  which  gradually  took 
place,  may  be  understood,  I  must  again  take  uj)  the  history  of  the 
Unity's  property,  with  its  Administrators  and  Proprietors. 

From  what  I  have  said  it  nuist  be  clear,  that,  although  its  revenues, 
for  the  most  part,  were  sent  to  Europe,  to  the  Unity's  Warden's  Board, 
for  the  good  oi'  the  whole  Unitas  Fratrum,  the  location  of  this  property 
in  America  conlcrrcd  vci-y  great  benefits  upon  our  Province.  The  Ad- 
ministrator's oliice  was  a  br;iucli  oHice  of  that  of  flu'  1 1  nity's  Warden's 
Board  at  Herrnhut,  and,  whenever  an  American  Diacony,  or  church, 
was  in  difficulties,  and  needed  help,  it  applied  to  him,  and  was  generally 
relieved. 

John  Christian  Alexander  de  Sc^hweiuit/,  Jiianaged  the  Unity's 
property  for  twcTify-scven  years,  from  1771  In  1 7!)'S,  Marschall  being 
the  J'roprietoi-.  in  the  year  la.st  namrd,  S(  hwcinitz  was  elected  to 
the  Unity's  FJders'  Confei'euce,  and  returned  to  (iermany.    His  sue- 


fcssor,  in  the  office  of  Adiiiiiiistiator,  was  Juliii  (u'hliard  Cuiiow,'  Afar- 
sc'hall  reniiiiuiiiii'  Frupriotor.  ^^ow,  in  accoiilaiifc  willi  the  directions 
of  the  Unity's  KUlers'  Conference,  Marseliall,  in  his  last  will  and  testa- 
ment, had  left  all  the  estates  and  tlie  entire  other  property  of  the  Cluu  ch, 
North  and  Sonth,  to  Seliweinit/,,  as  tlu>  next  PiT)[)rietor,  who  remained 
the  legatee,  even  after  his  removal  to  Europe.  But  when  the  Twenty- 
Second  General  Synod,  in  1801,  re-elected  him  lo  llie  lenity's  I'^Meis' 
Conference,  and  it  became  evident  that  he  would  remain  in  (!u  i  niany, 
lie  grew  exceedingly  nneasy  wilh  ic^ai'd  to  this  provisinn  of  iMarschall's 
will,  and  the  innnnierable  diflicultirs  which  would  arise,  in  ( ase  he, 
now  an  alien,  althouuh  fonncily  a  citizen  of  the  I'niled  Stales,  should 
actnally  become  the  heir.  He  was,  moreover,  im|)resse(l  wilii  the  idea 
that  ho  might  die  before  IMarschall,  or  soon  ni'lvv  him,  which  would 
complicate  matters  still  more.  Accordingly  he  urged  the  Unity's 
Elders'  Conference  to  direct  IMarschall  i'orlliwilh  to  execute  a  new  will 
and  constitute  some  one  else  the  legatee.  The  Conference  yieUk'd  to 
his  solicitations,  and  appointed  Christian  I^ewis  Ik'u/.ieu,'  of  Salem,  as 
rroprictor  in  his  stead.  Hence,  on  the  Kith  of  ])e(  eml)er,  1801,  IMar- 
schall executed  a  new  will,  and  made  Beuzien  his  heir.  It  would 
almost  seem  as  if  Schweinitz  had  been  moved  by  the  Lord  himself  to 
urge  such  prompt  measures  ;  foi-,  not  eights  weeks  after  the  execution 
of  this  new  will,  Mar.sehall  died,  at  Salem,  and,  tlfteen  days  lal(>r, 
Schweinitz  died  at  Herrnhut.  If  the  will  had  not  hecu  changed,  the 
result  would  have  been  most  disastrous.  There  would  have  been  no 
Proprietor  at  all  lor  a  period  of  liiteeu  years,  in  as  nuu'h  as  a  settlement 
would  have  been  out  of  the  (juestion  until  Schweinitz's  youngest  child 
would  have  become  of  age,  which  would  not  have  been  the  ease  until 
1810. 

John  Gebhard  Cunow  was  now  the  Admiuistiator,  and  ]5eii/,ieii  the 
Proiu-ietor  of  all  the  estates,  Nin  th  and  South.  In  1811,  Beuzien  died, 
and  left  tlie  property  in  the  North  to  Jacob  Van  Vleck,'  and  that  in 

'  John  Gebhard  Cimow  was  born  in  Cennany  on  the  (Uli  of  .January,  17(10. 
After  having  scrveil  as  Secretary  to  tlie  I'nity's  fllders'  Coni'erenre,  ami  as  a  Pro- 
fessor in  the  Theological  Seminary,  lie  came  to  America  as  Sell weinilz's  sueeessor. 
In  1822  he  retired,  returned  to  (ieimany,  and  was  sulisrmiently  employed  as  a 
Diaspora  Missionary  at  Kiinigsberg,  where  he  died  in  l>S'i'.). 

-  Christian  J.ewis  Ben/.ion  was  born  in  London,  .July  I'Jtli,  17.W.  In  178(),  he 
became  Marseiiall's  assistant  at  Salem,  and,  in  1802,  liis  successor  as  Administrator 
and  Proprietor.    He  died  Kovembcr  l.'ith,  1811. 

■'  Jacob  Van  Vleck,  born  in  Now  York  City,  March  24th,  1751,  diid  al  I'.eilile- 
heni,  .July  3d,  1831,  was  a  son  of  Ilem-y  Van  Vleck,  a  prosperous  hick  iiaiit  ni' 
New  York,  al  whose  liouse  tlie  Ilretliren  liehl  religious  services,  prior  to  the  build- 
ing of  the  Moravian  Church.    He  was  educated  in  the  (ierman  Province.    In  17'J0 


24 


the  South  to  Cuiiow.  Ciinow  rcnuiined  Administrator  for  twenty-four 
years,  from  1798  to  1822.  During  his  incumbency,  an  unfortunate 
controversy  broke  out  between  the  Administi-ation  and  the  Betlilehem 
Church,  the  only  thing  of  the  kind  that  ever  occurred  in  our  financial 
history.  In  order  to  pay  off  a  part  of  its  heavy  debt,  that  Church 
wanted  to  sell  a  tract  of  land.  The  Unity's  Elders'  Conference  itself 
had  sugiicstod  this  measure.  Cunow  was  oj)p()se(l  to  such  a  sale,  and, 
as  attorney  nl'  Jacob  Van  Vlcck,  tlio  Pro]»rictor,  iw'rcmptorily  refused 
to  give  the  necessary  titles,  inducing;-,  at  the  same  time,  the  Unity's 
Elders'  Ciuifcrence  to  witlulraw  ils  sLi-^vstioii.  No  doubt  he  had,  what 
he  believed  to  ho,  the  good  of  the  Cinircli  in  view.  But  his  acts  were 
arbitrary,  and  very  bitter  feelings  were  engendered,  which  the  Finan- 
cial Committee  of  the  General  Synod  of  1818  helped  to  intensify,  by 
interpreting  the  agreement  of  1771  in  such  a  way  as  to  make  it  appear 
that  the  Moravian  settlements  in  America  could  not  dispose  of  the  land 
bouglit  of  tlie  Unity,  but  ineirly  lield  it  on  a  perpetual  lease.  These 
agitations  continued  until  flie  spring  of  l  s_>2,  and  resulted  in  the  retire- 
ment of  Cunow  from  the  oliiee  of  Administrator.  He  was  succeeded 
by  Lewis  David  de  Schweinil/,,'  lo  whom  Cunow  made  over  the  South- 
ern estates.    Those  iu  the  iSorth  were  still  held  by  Jacob  Van  Vleck. 

Schweinitz  was  fortunate  enough  to  bring  the  existing  controversy 
to  an  end.  On  the  2d  of  March,  1824,  a  new  agreement  between  the 
Unity  and  Bethlehem  was  signed,  according  to  which  Bethlehem,  and 


he  took  cliaii^e  of  tlie  Boarding  School  at  Bethlehem,  and  subsequently  became 
Senior  JNlinister  at  that  place;  in  1802,  lie  was  appointed  Principal  of  Nazareth 
Hall,  and  -.iil.-,  ,  ncnl  I  v  Smier  Minisl.T  at  Xa/.aretli  ;  ami,  from  1812  to  1822,  he 
was  I'lrsidenl  (if  ihc  Siiiiilii'i  ii  rinx  inciai  r.iiaril.  In  Isll,  he  was  consecrated  a 
IJisliop  of  tlio  I'nitas  Fratnnn.  The  last  nine  years  of  his  life  he  spent  in  retire- 
ment at  Bethlehem. 

'  Lewis  David  dc  Seliwcinilz  Ph. I).,  horn  at  lid h h  hem,  Feliniary  intli,  ITSO, 
died  at  the  same  plaee,  Kehriiary  Sth,  \X'A,  t\,<-  ,,r.),ilin  Clirisiiiiii  \l.  x:in- 
der  de  Schweinit/.,  ihe  lirst  Adniinislralor,  tlir  :indsMii  (,|  ,l,,|iii  iiml  Dmi^na  dc 
Watteville,  and  llir  -r.  ai  .j,an,ls,,n  of  Zin/endu,  f^  He  was  r.ln.  aled  In  the  Faeda- 
g'oiiiiim  and  I'lu of  iLjir:d  Si minai'V  of  the  (ieL  iiian  Province.  In  1S1'_',  he  was  ap- 
pointeil  Beii/.ien's  siieeessoi'  as  iVdniiiiistraior  in  tlii-  South  ;  in  1S21,  Senior  Minis- 
ter and  Principal  of  the  Boardin<?  School  at  Bethlehem;  and,  in  1822,  Adminis- 
trator in  the  North.  Thereupon  he  resigned  liis  office  as  Principal,  but  remained 
Senior  Minister  at  Pict lilelieni.  The  (ieneral  Synod  ori82o  elected  him  a  Senior 
Civilin  »f  the  Unltas  h'tatnun.  His  ordination  to  this  grade  was  the  last  which 
occin-red.  He  was  one  of  I  lie  most  distinguished  American  botanists  of  ids  day, 
pnlillslied  iiiirni  l  ulls  iioiauical  works,  was  a  member  of  various  learned  societies  in 
Iviiopi'  and  Aniei  iea,  an<l  received  the  honorary  degree  of  Doctor  in  Philosophy 
fri^iu  the  University  at  Kiel,  in  Denmark. 


25 


hcnt-e,  of  fourso,  Nazaroth  ami  Jjititz  also,  were  declared  to  be  the  real_ 
owners j>t^hejiuid,  whieh  they  oould  sell,  as  they  i)leased,  provided  it 
was  done  according  to  the  synodically  established  rules  of  the  Unity's 
Warden's  Board  ;  and,  further,  the  Proprietor  was  pledged  to  give  the 
necessary  titles  in  case  of  such  sales ;  while  liethleheni  engaged,  on  its 
l)art,  to  make  over  to  the  Sustentation,  in  addition  to  what  it  had  pre- 
viously paid,  two  thirds  of  its  clear  profits,  after  all  expenses  had  been 
covered,  and  airothcr  promises  redeemed.  At  the  same  time,  Jacob 
Van  Vleck,  the  Proprietor,  issued  and  signed  a  declaration,  to  the  end, 
that  he  held  the  property  of  the  jNIoravian  settlementji  merely  in  trust, 
and  for  their  use.  Five  years  later,  on  the  4th  of  December,  1829,  he 
transferred,  by  a  general  deed,  the  entire  estates  in  the  North  to  Lewis 
David  de  8chweinitz,  who  thus  became  sole  Proprietor  of  the  whole 
cluirch-i)roperty  in  America.  In  his  will  he  constituted,  by  direction 
of  the  Unity's  Elders'  Conference,  William  Henry  Van  \'leck'  the  sole 
heir  of  this  property.  In  1834,  Schweinitz  died,  foreseeing  and  fore- 
telling radical  changes  in  the  finances  of  the  Province.  He  was  suc- 
ceeded, in  the  office  of  Administrator,  by  Philip  Henry  Goej[ypj' 
William  Henry  Van  Vleck  being  the  Proprietor  of  all  the  estates,  both 
North  and  South.  On  the  9th  of  October,  1843,  however,  the  said 
Van  Vleck  transferred,  by  deed,  the  entire  property  North  to  the  said 
Goepp,  and,  on  the  7th  of  August,  1844,  the  entire  property  South  to 
Charles  F.  Kluge,  who  had  succeeded,  in  that  same  year,  Theodore 


'  William  Henry  Van  Vleck,  born  at  Bethlehem,  November  14tli,  1790,  died 
at  the  same  place,  January  19th,  1853,  was  a  son  of  Bishop  Jacob  Xan  Vleck,  a 
former  Proprietor,  and  a  grandson  of  Henry  Van  Vleck,  one  of  the  lbundei>;  of 
the  (,'liurcli  in  New  York  City.  He  was  educated  in  the  American  Tiieological 
Seminary,  and  was  one  of  its  first  throe  students.  After  having  served  as  Minister 
in  Philadelphia,  as  Principal  of  Nazaretli  Hall,  and  as  Minister  in  New  York  City, 
he  was,  in  1836,  consecrated  a  Bishop,  and  appointed  President  of  the  Southern 
Provincial  Board,  which  oflice  he  filled  until  1849,  when  he  resigned  and  settled 
at  Bethlehem,  where  he  became  Pastor  of  the  Church.  He  w<is  one  of  the  most 
elo(juent  and  distinguished  fathers  of  the  American  Church  in  this  century. 

-'  Philip  Henry  Goepp  was  born  at  Gnadenfrei,  in  Prussia,  April  29th,  1798. 
After  serving  in  the  German  Province  as  Professor  in  the  Theological  Seminary, 
as  Secretary  to  the  L'nity's  Elders'  Conference,  and  in  other  capacities,  he  came  to 
America  in  1834,  as  Schwenilz's  successor.  He  remained  Adminisftrator  until 
18ot),  a  period  of  twenty-two  years,  and  a  member  of  the  Provincial  Conference 
until  18(il,  a  period  of  twenty-seven  years,  when  he  resigned,  and  went  to  Germany, 
where  he  spent  nine  years  in  retirement.  In  1870  he  returned  to  America, 
and,  two  years  later,  died  at  the  house  of  his  son,  on  Staten  Island,  March  19tli, 
1872. 


26 


Shultz'  in  the  office  of  Bpiithern  Afliuiiiistnitor,  Sluiltz  having,  in  1821, 
siu'c'ocdcd  Lewis  David  de  Schwcinitz  iu  the  .same  office. 

Thus  Philip  H.  tioep))  l)oc'anic  both  Proprietor  and  Administrator 
of  the  property  of  the  Church  in  our  Province. 

In  the  time  of  his  incumbency,  the  provincial  finances  were  greatly 
simplified,  very  much  improved,  and,  as  to  their  system,  entirely 
changed.  In  order  to  tliese  ends,  however,  the  exclusive  polity  of  the 
fathers,  and  the  financial  union  with  the  rest  of  the  Church  of  the 
Brethren,  which  they  had  estab]isli(Ml,  were  hntli  sacrificed. 

This  brings  nic  back  to  tlie  hislm y  (if  mir  ou  ii  Snstfiitation  Diacony 
and  of  tiic  Diaconics  of  the  Moravian  settlements  in  tlie  Province. 

In  view  of  their  involved  condition  and  of  the  seeming  impossibility 
of  improving  it  accnrdinL:  to  tlic  old  system,  Goepp  advocated  an 
entirely  new  departiiii',  which  was  uiaihially  carried  out  in  its  various 
details,  from  the  year  1844  to  the  year  18.)o. 

In  the  first  place,  on  the  11th  of  January,  1844,  the  exclusive 
polity  of  Bethlehem,  as  a  Moravian  settlcMnent,  was  given  u[),  by  en- 
actment of  the  church-council,  and  the  town  thrown  open  to  any  and 
every  one  who  might  choose  to  acipiire  j)roi)erty  there. 

In  the  second  place,  on  the  27th  of  May,  1847,  the  council  of  the 
same  church,  whose  liabilities  had  increased  to  $117,000,  resolved  to 
make  its  assets,  which  still  consisted  mainly  in  laud,  available,  by  selling 
one  thousand  three  luindrt'd  and  eighty  acres  of  it  to  the  Administra- 
tion, its  chief  creditor,  at  $75  an  acre,  thus  realizing  $103,500,  and 
leaving  only  $13,500  of  uncovered  liabilities.  At  the  same  time  the 
Council  increased  its  annual  contribution  to  the  Sustentatiou  Diacony 
to  $1,500,  reiterating,  furthermore,  the  pKdges  of  1771  and  of  1824, 
that  Bethlehem  was  bound  to  help  along,  to  the  best  of  its  ability,  the 
cause  of  the  Church  in  the  whole  Province. 

In  the  third  place,  on  tiie  first  of  November,  1850,  the  Church 
Council  of  Nazareth  abrogated  the  e.xclusivc  polity  of  that  town  and 
threw  it  open  to  the  public. 

In  the  fourth  place,  the  Church  Council  at  Bethlelicm,  on  the  13th 
of  February,  1851,  determined- to  give  up  entirely  the  old  financial 
system,  to  abolish  its  Diacony,  to  secure  incorporation  and  hence  to 

'  Tiieodore  iSliult/,  w:is  luini  ;it  tTfrd;uun,  in  Enst  Prussia,  Decuinher  17tli,  1770. 
In  1700,  lie  was  se'iil  as  a  Missicinary  to  Siiriiiaiii,  whence  lie  came  lo  Bothlcliem 
in  180().  TluTcii))()ii  lie  seivcil  as  .Minister  \u  the  churches  of  ICniniaus,  lleliron 
and  Schoencck.  In  1.S2I,  he  succeeded  Scliweinitii  us  Adniinistnitor  at  Salem, 
which  ollice  he  tilled  lor  twenty-tliree  years,  retiring  in  1844.  He  died  at  Salem, 
August  4lh,  1850. 


27 


sever  its  Hiiaiicial  connoelidii  witli  tlie  Unity  at  large,  and  to  make  a 
Hnal  settlement  with  the  Snstentation  Diaeony  of  the  Province. 

In  the  fifth  place,  on  the  '20th  of  Mareh,  1855,  the  Church  Council 
at  Nazareth  adoptcl  |)reeisely  the  same  resolution. 

And,  in  the  last  place,  on  the  2od  of  July,  1855,  Lititz,  which  had 
held  out  longest,  abolished  its  exclusive  j)olity,  and,  in  the  following 
years,  changed  its  financial  system  in  the  same  way  in  which  Bethle- 
hem and  Nazareth  had  clumged  theirs. 

The  result  of  all  these  important  and  far-reaching  measures  was, 
that  the  Churches  at  Bethlehem,  Nazareth,  and  Lititz  were  incor- 
porated, and  that  their  financial  affairs  were  put  into  the  hands  of  com- 
mittees— at  Bethlehem  the  Conuiiittee  was  called  the  "Liquidation 
Committee" — which  sold  the  greater  part  of  those  landed  estates  that 
remained,  making  over  nearly  the  one  half  of  the  iinicreds  to  the  Svis- 
tentation  Uiacony.  In  order  to  hold  iUvsv  funds  the  Provincial 
Khlers'  Coid'ereuce,  which  managed  tliis  Diacuny,  was  liktwisi'  cuiisti- 
tuted  a  body  corporate  in  law,  on  the  liiUh  of  March,  1851,  under  the 
atflictiug  style  and  lieavy  title  of  "  The  Board  of  Elders  of  the  Northern 
Diocese  of  the  Church  of  the  United  Brethren  in  the  United  States  of 
America." 

In  as  much  as  these  changes  had  been  mostly  proposed  by  the  Unity's 
Administrator  and  Proprietor,  they  received  his  sanction,  and  through 
him  the  sanction  of  the  Unity's  Elders'  Conference.  In  the  sale  of 
laiul,  he  gave  the  necessary  titles,  and  all  things  were  amicably 
settled. 

Thus,  then,  the  Sustentation  of  the  Province,  for  the  first  time,  held 
what  may  })roperly  be  called  a  fund  ;  and  tlie  old  settlement-churches, 
Bethlehem,  Nazareth,  and  Lititz,  by  giving  nearly  the  one  half  of  their 
property  to  it,  redeemed  the  pledges  originally  made,  in  tlie  time  of 
John  Christian  Alexander  de  Schweinitz,  in  1771,  1772,  1775,  and 
subsecjuently  renewed  at  Bethlehem,  in  the  time  of  Lewis  David  de 
Schweinitz,  in  1824,  and  of  Philip  II.  Goepp,  in  1847.  It  w'as,  how- 
ever, expressly  stipulated,  that  the  shares  made  over  to  the  Sustenta- 
tion Fund  should  be  held,  for  all  time  to  come,  as  Trust  Funds,  which 
were  not  to  be  alienated.  The  Sustentation  Fund  has,  therefore,  in  point 
of  fact,  been  created  by  the  eluu  ehes  at  Bethlehem,  Nazareth,  and  Lititz. 

It  is  an  interesting  circumstance  that  their  final  scttlcnicnt  witli  the 
Sustentation  Diaeony  practically  carried  out,  no  doulit  iiiiknuwiii^ilv  to 
the  parties  concerned,  an  idea  expressed  in  1818  by  the  Financial  ( 'uin- 
mittee  of  the  (Jeneral  Synod,  in  view  of  tlui  controversy  then  ^(linl;  on, 
namely,  that  Bethlehem  shoidd  settle  with  the  Sustentation  by  giving 
to  it  the  one  half  of  its  land. 


28 


In  saying  that  Bethlehem,  Nazareth,  and  Lititz,  have  redeemed 
their  pledges,  I  do  not  mean  to  imply  that  they  are  now  rid  of  further 
responsibility  to  the  Sustciitution  Fund,  and  the  causes  of  the  Province 
generally.  On  the  conirai y,  all  the  written  agreements  which  they 
have  made  with  the  Unity,  and  all  the  charters  according  to  wliieh 
they  are  constituted,  clearly  set  forth,  that,  while  their  prdpcrty 
undoubtedly  is  their  own,  they  are  bound  to  use  it,  after  first  meeting 
their  own  real  wants,  in  such  a  way  that  the  interests  of  the  whole 
Church  in  this  country  will  be  furthered.  The  same  jrosition,  jjrecisely, 
holds  good  of  such  other  churclics  nf  tlu'  rioviiicc  as  arc  i^raduallj'' 
accumulating  funds,  for  cxamj)le,  that  at  Imuiikuis  and  thai  in  New 
York  city. 

The  Twenty  Seventh  General  Synod,  held  at  Herrnhut  in  1857,  the 
first  after  the  introduction  of  the  new  financial  system  in  the  American 
Province,  not  only  practically  approved  of  what  had  been  done,  but 
also  followed  its  example.  For,  vqion  motion  of  the  chairman  of  the 
rnity's  ^^'a^den's  liuard  itself,  it  was  resolved  to  abrogate,  in  toto,  the 
financial  union  existing  among  the  rroviiiees  of  the  Unitas  Fratrum. 
Accordingly,  a  careful  estimate  lA'  its  a.-se(s  was  niado,  upon  the  liasis 
of  which  a  capital  was  paid  out  to  the  15ritish  Province,  aiKithcr  capi- 
tal, very  large  in  jn-oportion  to  its  dwarfish  dimensions,  was  given  to 
the  Southern  American  Province,  and,  although  our  Northern  Province 
had  really,  by  its  own  act,  already  sex  eied  ii^  connection  with  the 
financial  union  of  the  Unitas  Fratrum,  a  iliiid  eajiital,  of  $25,000,  was 
l)assed  into  its  hands.  The  (ierman  Proxince  retained  all  the  estates 
in  ( iermany,  including  those  which  had  belonged  to  the  Zinzendorf 
family,  and  all  the  })roperty  held  by  the  Northern  and  Southern  Ad- 
ministrations in  America. 

Since  that  time  each  Province  carries  on  its  own  finances  inde})cnd- 
eutly  of  the  other.  Leaving  out  of  the  i|uesti(in  the  Foreign  ^Mission 
funds,  there  now  exist  only  two,  each  n\'  s.",(),(l(lo,  which  the  Unitas 
Fratrum  holds  in  coniiiitni.  'flic  (iisl  in  p:i\-  ilic  salaries  of  one  half 
the  mend)ers  of  the  Unity's  holders'  ( '(iiilerence,  the  other  half  receiv- 
ing their  salaries  from  the  (iei'man  Pi'oviuce ;  the  .second  to  defray  the 
expen.ses  of  the  (ienei'al  Synods. 

In  the  year  pi-e<  c(liiiL;  the  meeting  of  the  Twenty  Seventh  Synod, 
Philip  H.  Goej)p  relircd  iVdiii  the  othces  of  Proprietor  and  Administra- 
tor (185(;,)  and  was  succeeded  hy  Eugene  A.  Frueanff,  to  whom  he  made 
over  the  pro))eily.  This  ])ropci  ly,  as  I  have  said,  belonged,  according 
to  the  linancial  settlement  agreed  upon  at  the  Synod,  to  the  German 
Province.  It  was  turned  into  cash  as  rapidly  as  i)ussible,  with  the  view 
of  winding  up  the  Administration,  by  William  Theodore  Koepper,  the 


29 


l-csponsible  ca--;liier.  In  the  year  1869,  when  the  Twenty  Eighth  Gen- 
eral Svnod  met,  the  AdniinistratorV  office  was  closed,  and  this  im- 
portant part  of  the  history  of  our  American  church-fiuauees  came  to 
an  end. 

In  the  Southern  Province,  Charles  F.  Kluge  was  succeeded,  in 
1853,  in  the  offices  of  Proprietor  and  Administrator,  by  Emil  A.  de 
Schweinitz,  who  still  holds  both.  But  he,  too,  is  winding  up  the  con- 
cern in  his  hands,  which  also  belongs  to  the  German  Province,  as  rap- 
idly as  possible.  Negotiations  are  now  going  on  having  in  view  the 
sale  of  all  the  land  which  remains  to  the  Southern  Province.  AVhen 
this  sale  will  have  been  consummated,  the  Southern  Administration 
likewise  will  cease,  and  the  last  vestige  of  American  proprietorship,  in 
the  peculiar  sense  in  which  this  paper  has  explained  it,  will  disappear. 

And  now,  brethren,  having  attempted  to  give  you  this  imperfect 
and,  I  fear,  unwarrantably  lengthy,  history  of  the  finances  of  our  Pro- 
vince and  of  its  Sustentation  Fund.  I  will  not  claim  the  privilege  of  a 
preacher,  and  detain  you  with  practical  applications,  although  many 
most  important  ones  <.'ould  be  made. 

Let  me,  in  conclusion,  draw  your  attention  to  merely  one  point, 
which,  in  fact,  comprises  everything  else  that  I  want  to  say.  It  must  be 
clear,  from  this  paper,  that  the  Sustentation  Fund  is  organically  and 
indissolubly  connected  with  the  progress  of  our  Church.  The  more  the 
Church  increases,  the  greater  the  demands  ujwn  the  Fund.  Now,  even 
at  the  present  time,  its  income,  that  is,  the  interest  of  its  securities  and 
the  rent  of  its  houses,  is  far  from  sufficient  to  meet  its  disbursements. 
It  has  to  depend  for  aid  upon  the  profits  of  the  Boarding  Schools, 
which  are  subject  to  great  fluctuations.  If,  then,  the  present  revenues 
of  the  Fund  are  not  enough,  what  will  they  be  in  the  future,  in  case 
the  Church  continues  to  grow  as  it  has  been  growing  for  the  last  twenty 
years?  Is  it  not  self-evident,  that  either  the  Sustentation  Fund,  by  the 
creation  of  new  funds,  or  in  other  ways,  must  be  relieved  of  a  large 
part  of  the  demands  which  it  now  has  to  satisfy,  or  the  Church  must 
stop  extending?  No  one,  I  hope,  will  think  of  advocating  the  latter; 
therefore  the  former  will  be  the  only  alternative. 

When  this  momentous  question  comes  to  be  considered,  and  it  cannot 
be  considered  too  soon,  may  the  Church  be  animated  by  the  same  spirit 
of  childlike  faith  and  of  unceasing  prayer  which  i>nr  fathers  nianifesteil 
in  all  their  financial  difficulties! 


PAMPHLET  BINDER 


DATE  DUE 

I 


